On Thursday October 19th (19/10/17) the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF/QSD) formally declared the Syrian city of Raqqa to be liberated from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
The SDF are a coalition of Kurdish, Christian, Turkmen and Arab forces.
The Arab element which makes up around 50% of the coalition is made up
of both fragments of the long defunct Free Syrian Army (FSA) and Arab
tribes indigenous to northern Syria.
The SDF is supported by the US-led coalition Combined Joint Task Force: Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTFOIR).
The city of Raqqa sits on the Euphrates River. It is located around 200km (120 miles) west of Syria's border with Iraq
and around 100km (60 miles) south of Syria's border with Turkey. In 2014 ISIL declared itself to be an Islamist Caliphate with Raqqa as its capital city.
However following the SDF's announcement of an operation; "Wrath of Euphrates" to liberate Raqqa back in November 2016 ISIL moved to abandon Raqqa as their capital.
ISIL then slowly started re-deploying their forces to Mayadin to establish a new capital. Mayadin sits around 170km (100 miles) south-east of Raqqa along the Euphrates River around 90km (50 miles) from Syria's border with Iraq.
Due to a host of reasons, mainly centred around ISIL's own incompetence this plan to establish Mayadin as a fallback capital never really materialised. However it did significantly reduce the level of defence ISIL was able to offer in Raqqa.
Despite this the 133 day Battle of Raqqa was absolutely brutal leaving near 80% of the city destroyed. Across the entire Wrath of Euphrates operation 655 members of the SDF gave their lives in the cause of defeating ISIL. These include Chief Petty Officer Scott Dayton of the US Navy who gave his life on November 24 2016 (24/11/16).
On Thursday October 19th (19/10/17) the SDF were able to officially declare Raqqa liberated from ISIL. I think that bears repeating.
Although Raqqa has been liberated amid the ruins a threat remains both from ISIL stragglers and unexploded ordinance including Improvised Explosive Devices (IED's). This threat was highlighted on Thursday (19/10/17) when just metres/yards from where the official liberation ceremony was taking place three SDF members were killed by an IED explosion.
The dead included Jac Holmes - a British volunteer with the SDF's International Brigade. He was aged 24 from Bournemouth and was on his third tour of duty against ISIL.
The liberation of Raqqa however has not been the only operation the SDF have been conducting against ISIL in Syria. On September 9th (9/9/17) they launched the operation; "Cizre Storm."
Within north-eastern Syrian the SDF control a vast area between the Euphrates River and Syria's borders with Iraq and Turkey. For operational reasons this has been designated; "Shangri-La". The only area of north-eastern Syria which Shangri-La does not encompass is a roughly 1500kmsq (860 milesq) area stretching across the Khobar River.
Roughly in the shape of a triangle this has as its tip the point where the Euphrates River enters Iraq. It's base is an imaginary line stretching between the towns of Madan and al-Shadaddi.
Madan sits on the Euphrates River roughly 70km (40 miles) south-east of Raqqa and 110km (70 miles) north-west of Mayadin. Al-Shadaddi sits on the Khobar River roughly 150km (90 miles) east of Raqqa and roughly 130km (75 miles) north of Mayadin.
The objective of the Cizre Storm operation is to advance from the Madan-Shadaddi Line, across the Khobar River to where the Euphrates River enters Iraq. This will liberate the area from ISIL and properly establish Shangri-La with the Euphrates River as its southern boundary.
Initially the Cizre Storm operation made dramatic progress. After just four days it arrived at the Industrial Zone on the outskirts of Deir-ez-Zour City on September 13th (13/9/17).
The capital of Deir-ez-Zour Province Deir-ez-Zour City is located on the Euphrates River. Roughly 65km (40 miles) south-east of Madan and 50km (30 miles) north-west of Mayadin.
This was achieved by establishing a roughly 3km (1.8 mile) wide and 55km (30 mile) deep corridor from the Madan-Shadaddi Line to the Industrial Zone. Unfortunately the operation then stalled for a full seven days.
On September 20th (20/9/17) the Cizre Storm operation received fresh impetus. The SDF established three axis breaking off from the Industrial Zone corridor to the Khobar River.
The villages and farms located between the Madan-Shadaddi Line are very small in size. Saying many of them are not shown on maps is an understatement. Many of them don't show up on satellite imagery.
To make matters worse the Arab elements of the SDF refer to them by their Arab names. The Kurdish elements refer to them by the Kurdish names and so on. There seems to be no standardised way of translating these various names into English.
So partly in protest I have decided to designate these three axis; "Aisling," "Niamh" and "Siobhan."
The first axis; "Aisling" advanced south-east from the Industrial Zone along the banks of the Euphrates in the general direction of the town of al-Zuwaymiyah. This sits on the junction where the Khobar River meets the Euphrates River roughly 8km (5 miles) from the Industrial Zone.
The second axis; "Niamh" advanced east from the Industrial Zone corridor towards the town of as-Suwar. This sits on the banks of the Khobar River roughly 9km (5 miles) from the Industrial Zone. It is connected to the Industrial Zone by the H7 Damascus to Qamishli Highway.
The third axis; "Siobhan" advanced south from Shadaddi towards the town of Markadah. This sits on the banks of the Khobar River roughly 45km (30 miles) south of Shadaddi and roughly 35km (20 miles) north of as-Suwar.
On September 26th (26/9/17) the Niamh axis reached as-Suwar and the town was fully liberated. It then began to advance north along the banks of the Khobar towards Markadah.
On October 4th (4/10/17) the Siobhan axis reached Markadah. However rather than moving to liberate the town the SDF encircled it and began to advance south towards as-Suwar.
On October 13th (13/10/17) the Niamh axis reached and liberated the town of Hilalah. This sits around 3km (2 miles) north of as-Suwar.
On October 14th (14/10/17) the axis reached and liberated the villages of Sadah, Khabur and al-Janna. This put the Niamh axis within 5km (3 miles) of the town of Markadah and the Siobhan axis.
On October 15th (15/10/17) the Niamh and Siobhan axis' touched just south of Markadah. Once united they went on to liberate Markadah on October 20th (20/10/17).
Meanwhile the Aisling axis has advanced steadily along the banks of the Euphrates. On September 23rd (23/9/17) it liberated the Conoco gas plant at the al-Isba Oil & Gas Fields. On September 30th (30/9/17) it liberated the Jafra Oil & Gas Fields.
On or around October 10th (10/10/17) the Aisling axis reached and liberated al-Zuwaymiyah completing its advance towards the Khobar River.
Although it was only officially marked last Thursday (19/10/17) the end of the Battle of Raqqa has already provided a huge boost to the Cizre Storm operation.
On October 20th (20/10/17) the Aisling axis crossed the Khobar River quickly liberating the villages of al-Mashiqa, al-Lawziyah and Shuhayl. On October 21st (21/10/17) the SDF entered the Omar Oil & Gas Field. Located directly south-east of the Khobar River this is the largest Oil & Gas Field in Syria.
On Sunday October 22nd (22/10/17) the SDF declared that they had fully liberated the Omar Oil & Gas Field. Being some 160kmsq (95 milesq) in area the liberation of the Omar Oil & Gas Field now puts the SDF's Aisling axis just 40km (25 miles) from Syria's border with Iraq.
Despite having advanced great distances the areas outside of the three axis have not been fully liberated from ISIL. This has left the SDF and the local population vulnerable to counter-attack and ambushes.
On October 10th (10/10/17) one such ambush struck SDF positions just south of as-Suwar. On October 13th (13/10/17) another ISIL ambush struck a SDF convoy on the H7 Highway. This killed 9 and wounded 43 including Kurdish journalists who had been covering the fighting.
While conducting the Cizre Storm operation the SDF have also been steadily progressing south-east from Raqqa liberating towns, villages and farms along the northern banks of the Euphrates.
The first stage of the Wrath of Euphrates operation was to advance upon and surround Raqqa. This was completed on March 19th (19/3/17) with the SDF taking up positions at the town of al-Karamah - around around
30km (20 miles) south-east of Raqqa.
By October 13th (13/10/17) the SDF had advanced roughly 100km (60 miles) from al-Karamah to the Jubaylah area. This sits around 75km (45 miles) south-east of Madan and around 6km (4 miles) west of the Deir-ez-Zour Industrial Zone.
On October 14th (14/10/17) the SDF liberated the Husayniyah area. This sits around 8km (5 miles) south of the Jubaylah area and around 4km (2 miles) south-west of the Deir-ez-Zour Industrial Zone.
In between Husayniyah and the Deir-ez-Zour Industrial Zone stands the al-Rawdah district of Deir-ez-Zour City. This remains disputed between ISIL and the Syrians.
With the exception of that small area the liberation of the Husayniyah area means the SDF now control everything north of the Euphrates from where the river enters Syria from Turkey through to the Deir-ez-Zour Industrial Zone.
The Cizre Storm operation is fast extending that area of control even further.
17:15 on 24/10/17 (UK date).
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